Sanitary food package



y 1932- w. w. HARTMAN ETAL 1,866,036

SANITARY FOOD PACKAGE Filed July 23, 1930 Fig.1

Wi/llam Wa/fer'Har/man Robe/f Alexander S/eps INVENTORS.

BY "IL A TTORNEY.

Patented Jul 5, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAI WALTER ELBTIAN AND ROBERT ALEXANDER STEPS, 01' L08 ANGEL,

CALIFORNIA "SANITARY r001) PACKAGE Application med July 23,

. of packaging them in a manner that is pleasing and attractive to the eye.

For instance, in the usual manner of handling pies, cakes, etc., after same are baked, they are subject to a fair amount of handling,

' not only in the bakery proper, but also during transportation to the retail stores, and also during the process of distribution in the latter to the ultimate consumers. Though these pics, cakes, etc., are often placed in ,5 plates, this is the only protection afforded,

and the dust and dirt is permitted to accumulate on them, which is especially obj ectionable in various kinds of pics having a soft surface, as the dust collects upon and clings to the latterparticularly. Besides, though the plate protects the bottom of the pie, the top is exposed and it dries out faster than if properly sealed all over.

The object of this invention is to completely eliminate theabove objections, and to package the food commodity at the earliest possible moment, in an entirely sanitary and attractive manner, so as to exclude all dirt and dust therefrom during the handling, and until it reaches the ultimate consumer, and also to more efi'ectivelypreserve its freshness up to the time of consumption. The drawing illustrates one form of our invention, but the latter is subject to change and variation within the scope of the ap ended claims, without departing from the splrit of our invention.

' Fig. 1 is a front view of one form of our invention, this view being partly in section and partly in full. Fig. 2 is a front view of another form of member, when arranged as above, forms a 1880. Serial No. 488,8

our invention showing a modified feature not illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view looking at the bottom of our package as illustrated in Fig. 2, the view beingin direction of the arrows X in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates one form of covering memberused in our invention.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form of coverlng member used in our invention.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate minor modifications that will be more fully described later.

Although the drawing, and the following description, refers to a pie as the food product packaged, this is only byway of example, and it is understood that any other item of "food can be substituted for the pie, all within the terms of this invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates the pie 1 having the usual crust portion 2 and body portion 3, this pic however being only meagerly and diagram- 70 matically illustrated, all immaterial details being omitted.

Underlying this pic is a plate 4 having the usual bottom portion 5, side wall portion 6, and flange portion 7. 75

Over this pie, and for the purpose of excluding dust, dirt, moisture and air circulation therefrom, we add a covering member 8, the perimeter of which is sealed and fastened to the plate so as to form a dust-proof enclosure in which the pie is located, between said plate and the covering member 8.

It is obvious, the pie, plate and covering neat substantial package convenient for handling, and since the pie is packaged in this manner at the earliest proper moment after baking, and with practically no manual handling prior to that time, it is also obvious that this package delivers the pie finally to the ultimate consumer in the most sanitary possible condition free from accumulate dust and dirt, and also free from any possible insect taint, or human taint through handling.

Although the shape of the package when viewed from above, or from below, may be of any desired form, for instance rectangular, elliptical, or round, the usual custom is to make same round as indicated in the partial view'thereof in Fig. 3.

imeter of the covering member 8 as general- 1y indicated in Fig. 4. Slits 9 are just shows half the slits of one form, and the other tongues 10 between the slits lie nice and flat.

straight cuts, with no material removed, whereas slits 9' are triangular in shape,'a small portion of the material having been removed. The latter form of slit permits a slightly neater seal on the plate than the former, but the former is a little more economical to out because it permits the use of cheaper cutting tools. Although Fig. 4

half of another form, it is of course understood that in practice only one type of slit (or none at all) is used all around-the covering member, and the particular type that is selected, and its distribution or direction around the perimeter of the covering mem-.

ber, can be varied even beyond the types that we have illustrated in the drawing, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

With the slits thus cut around the perimeter, all crinkling is eliminated, and the against the perimeter of the plate as indicated in Fig. 3.

For the purpose of sealing and causing the perimeter of the covering member to stick to the perimeter of the plate, the Inc or adhesive used, is of course careful y selected so-as not to be objectionable in a chemical or sanitary sense, even if some of it should come in contact with the food product, but of course every provision is taken during the process of packaging to make certain that none of the adhesive comes in contact with the pie, or other food product. To illustrate this we might add, with reference to the type of package illustrated in Fi 1 for instance, that after the pie is put in t e plate, the adhesive may insome way be applied all around the bottom of flange 7 of the plate, as by causing the latter to roll around on some narrow rollers diagrammatically indicated by dotted lines at 11. These rollers could dip into fluid adhesive 12 in containers 13, also diagrammatically indicated by only dotted lines, and with this arrangement it is obvious that the adhesive will be neatly and evenly applied all around the bottom of flange 7 as the plate turns around on these rollers 11,

without permitting any of the adhesive to get up onto the food product in the plate. The covering member 8, preferably with no adhesive on it anywhere, could then be placed centrally over the plate and food product, and the edge of this covering member could then be folded neatly around and under the perimeter of the plate, being permanently sealed by the adhesive on the plate. When handled this way, it is certain that none of the adhesive comes in contact with the pie, but this mode of applying the adhesive is cited by way of illustration only, and is not cited as a limitation on this invention, as it is understood that the adhesive could be successfully applied in other wa s.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modi cation of the covering a member, which we will now describe. The dotted lines'14 indicate the edge of the sheet material from which the covering members are cut, two of these covering members 15 being shown approximately. in their relative positions as they are respectively cut from the sheet. In order to save some of this sheet material that would otherwise be wasted, and to use it for a good and helpful purpose in connectionwith the package, we call attention that instead of cutting the external contour of the covering member entirely circular all around as illustrated in Fig. 4, thiscontour can be cut in such manner that at certain laces 16 the radial distance to the center 1 is greater than the radial distance of the remaining contour 18. This gives short tongues 10 corresponding to tongues 10 in Fig. 4, and also long tongues 10' at places 16. The purpose of these long tongues 10' is clearly illustrated in Figs. 2

and 3, showing that whereas the short tongues 10 merely underlie the flange 7, these long tongues 10' pass downward along the side wall portion 6 of the plate. Obviously,'this gives a still tighter and firmer hold of the covering memb'er onto the plate 4, and since these extra long tongues 10' are procured from the otherwise wasted material, the benefit of the tighter and more secure seal which they give, is obviously helpful. As indicated in Fig. 5, the shape of the slits 19, separating these long tongues 10', is preferably such that the tongues make even and exact contact with each other not only along theflange portion 7 of the plate, but also along the side wall portion 6 thereof, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. I

In making the coverin member 8, a wide variety of materials can e selected, preference being given to such qualities as render them dust-proof, moisture-proof, air-proof, germ-proof, and also preferably transparent as the latter quality eatly improves the appearance and attractiveness of the package by renderin the pie or other food product entirely visible, even though same is securely sealed for sanitary and other reasons. The particular selection however we leave entirely to the judgment and desires of-the user or maker of such packages, who may depart as widely as he desires from the preferences which we have just expressed,'without departing from the spirit of our invention. We prefer however a covering material that is entirely transparent, or as nearly so as possible, and also one that is substantially air and moisture-proof, as well as germ and dirt-proof, as all this helps protect and preserve the freshness of the d product, as well as its cleanliness, and other good qualities. If waxed or parafiined paper is used,

. instead of other transparent substitutes, then the use of glue or other adhesive for attaching the coverin member to the plate, as above described, can be dispensed with, anda suitable heating element can be used for heating the wax and parafiine to cause the latter to attach and fasten the edges of the covering member to the plate.

The partial views of our package, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate modifications of the flanged portion 7 of the plate, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 illustrates thisflanged ortion as being curved in some form such as l instead of being flat like in Fig. 1, and Fig. l shows this flanged portion of the plate being entirely omitted. However, all these modifications, and others, are wholly within the spirit of our invention.

In conclusion, the gist of this invention resdies in the fact that the covering member 8 overlying the food article and plate member 4, has its perimetral portion tucked around and beyond the perimetral edge of the plate member, so that the perimetral portion of the covering member is in fact fastened to the opposite surface of the plate member from that on which the food article rests. The importance of this is that the adhesive (or other astening expedient) used for fastening thecover and plate members together, is not applied to the same surface of the plate as that which the food article rests upon, but is applied to the opposite surface of the plate member, i. e., the surface beyond the perimetral edge of the plate, thereby very considerably reducing the likelihood that the adhesive or equivalent expedient will come in contact with the food. In other types of packages where the covering member is made to adhere to the same surface of the plate member as the food article rests upon, the

likelihood of the adhesive coming into contact with the food article is considerably larger than in our invention, and this distinction is an important feature of our invention. From the previous description it is of course understood that the pie plate 4 may be of the usual paper or other suitable composition commonly used for this purpose in the trade.

We cla1m 1. A sanitary food package comprising an article of food having an approximately round exterior contour, a round plate underlying the same and having a bottom portion, also a frusto-conical side wall portion rising from said bottom portion, and also a flange portion extending outwardly from the top of said frusto-conical side wall portion #0 form the perimeter of said plate, and a dustexcluding covering member havin a curved exterior contour, some portions 0 said contour lying radially further than others from the center of said covering member, said covering member having slits cut therein around the perimeter thereof, and the perimeter portion of said covering member between said slits being fastened to said plate, said radially further portions of said covering member being fastened along the exterior of said which surfaces, or a part thereof, said food article rests, and the other of which surfaces may for distinction be termed-the opposite surface of said plate member, and a dustexcluding covering member having slits cut at intervals therein around its perimeter, said dust-excluding covering member over-lying said food article and plate member, and the slitted perimeter portion of said covering member being tucked around said perimitral edge of the plate member and being fastened to said opposite surface of said plate member in the vicinity of said perimitral edge.

3. A sanitary food package comprising a food article, a plate member underlying same and formed of relatively thin material terminating in a perimetral edge that divides said plate member into two surfaces upon one of which surfaces, or a part thereof, said food article rests, and the other of which surfaces may for distinction be termed the opposite surface of said plate member, and a dust excluding covering member overlying said food article and plate member, the perimetral portion of said covering member being tucked around the said perimetral edge of the plate member and being fastened to said opposite surface of said plate member.

In testimony whereof, we have executed these presents this 17th day of July, 1930.

WILLIAM WALTER HARTMAN. ROBERT ALEXANDER STEPS. 

